Leviticus 10

Voluntary Sacrifices and Offerings

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God Destroys Nadab and Abihu

10 <1> Then Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu made a mistake. They took their incense[104] dishes and put some fire and incense on those dishes. But they did not use the fire that was on the altar-they took fire from some other place and brought it to the Lord. This was not what he had commanded. <2> So fire came from the Lord and destroyed Nadab and Abihu, and they died there in front of the Lord.

<3> Then Moses said to Aaron, "The Lord says, 'The priests who come near me must respect me. I must be holy[105] to them and to all the people.'" So Aaron did not say anything about his sons dying.

<4> Aaron's uncle Uzziel had two sons. They were Mishael and Elzaphan. Moses said to these sons, "Come here and get your cousins' bodies and carry them away from this holy place and take them outside the camp."

<5> So Mishael and Elzaphan obeyed Moses. They carried the bodies of Nadab and Abihu outside the camp. Nadab and Abihu were still wearing their special woven shirts.

<6> Then Moses spoke to Aaron and his other sons Eleazar and Ithamar. Moses told them, "Don't show any sadness! Don't tear your clothes or mess up your hair![106] Don't show your sadness and you will not be killed, and the Lord will not be angry against all the people. All the Israelites are your relatives-they can cry about the Lord burning Nadab and Abihu. <7> But you must not even leave the entrance of the Meeting Tent.[107] If you leave, you will die because the Lord's anointing[108] oil is on you." So Aaron, Eleazar, and Ithamar obeyed Moses.

<8> Then the Lord said to Aaron, <9> "You and your sons must not drink wine or beer when you come into the Meeting Tent. If you do, you will die. This law continues forever through your generations. <10> You must be able to clearly tell the difference between what is holy and what is not holy, between what is clean[109] and what is unclean.[110] <11> And you must teach the people about all the laws that the Lord gave them through Moses."

<12> Aaron had two sons who were still alive, Eleazar and Ithamar. Moses said to Aaron and his two sons, "When people give sacrifices[111] as a gift to the Lord, some of the grain offering is not burned. Use that grain to make bread without yeast. You priests must eat that bread near the altar[112] because that grain is very holy. <13> The portion of food for you and your sons will come from the special gifts to the Lord, so you must eat that food in a holy place.

<14> "Also you, your sons, and your daughters will be able to eat the breast from the offerings you presented to the Lord. You don't have to eat these in a holy place, but you must eat them in a clean place because they come from the fellowship offerings.[113] The Israelites give these gifts to God. The people eat part of these animals, but the breast is your share. <15> The people must bring the gifts of fat from their animals as part of the sacrifice. They must also bring the thigh of the fellowship offering and the breast that is lifted up to show it is offered in front of the Lord. Then it will be your share of the offering. It will belong to you and your children. That part of the sacrifices will be your share forever, just as the Lord said."

<16> Moses looked for the goat of the sin offering,[114] but it was already burned up. Moses became very angry with Aaron's other sons Eleazar and Ithamar. Moses said, <17> "You were supposed to eat that goat in the holy area! It is very holy! Why did you not eat it in front of the Lord? The Lord gave it to you to carry away the guilt of the people-to make the people pure.[115] <18> That goat's blood was not brought into the Holy Place.[116] So you should have eaten the meat in the holy area, just as I commanded!"

<19> But Aaron said to Moses, "Look, today they brought their sin offering and burnt offering[117] before the Lord. But you know what happened to me today! Do you think the Lord would be happy if I ate the sin offering today?"

<20> When Moses heard this, he agreed.